Macaroni and Cheese

The toasted crumbs on top have a cheesy crispness, and the pasta beneath is creamy and rich. Kids will appreciate the individual servings, but the recipe makes plenty, so why not pour the extra into a baking dish to feed the ravenous parents?

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Reviews

Utterly delicious. I first saved this 8 years ago and have been making it ever since. The only wierd thing about it is that it makes a huge quantity and calls for an odd quantity of cheddar -- 1.25 lbs or some such -- a package size not sold. So, to simplify: make .4 recipe, which works out to 8 oz cheddar. Then, make the cheese sauce in a saucepan that can go in the oven (like a Le Creuset) and just dump the pasta into the cheese sauce. If you drop the pasta into boiling water as you start the cheese sauce they will be done about the same time. And, by cooking the dish in the cheese sauce pan you save on clean up!

The recipe needs to be more accurate. As others have said, the serving size of 10 is inaccurate as a main dish (maybe as a side, but pushing it). I didn't use the pasta water and used other reviewers suggestions of adding dry mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper and worchestershire sauce to give it better flavor. I don't get the 4 star ratings on this one when you have to make so many adjustments to the original recipe. I'd make it again with the aforementioned additions, but wouldn't recommend using the original recipe.

Four forks for this extraterrestrial delight of a macaroni and cheese recipe! My tastebuds were a-tingling the second I laid my eyes on this crumbly mess! My mouthhole knew what was in store for it : PURE JOY. I ate half the pan, and my blood pressure monitor was triggered, so I fed the rest to my dog, and he loved it! He loved it on the way in, at least. He had painful diahhrea for the next 3 weeks as a result of eating this rich, sloppy mess of cheesy goodness!

I confess that I used this as a base recipe - and that I cut if roughly in half (and we ate half of what I made). But the basic sauce was just amazing. The roux worked perfectly. I used Cabot's Seriously Sharp Cheddar, along with probably twice as much imported parmesan as specified, along with a bit of imported gruyere. I probably used roughtly 1/3 of the requested salt (since I'd cut the recipe in half, I used maybe 1/3 tsp of salt). But I also added the following: 1/4 tsp ground mustard, 1/4 tsp half sharp paprika, 1/4 tsp sweet paprika, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne, and a few twists of grated nutmeg. In addition, I used probably 6 shakes of the Worcestershire sauce and another 6 shakes of Franks Red Hot sauce. None of those flavors ended up identifiable in the end result, but all added to the overall flavor. Even though I added a number of spices, the base recipe definitely carried the day and was responsible (along with the Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar) for the excellent outcome. I will definitely use this as a base recipe again (and again). My 21 year old daughter is very hard to place when it comes to mac and cheese - and she loved it. It's a keeper.

The texture of the cheese sauce was not smooth enough to rate a "4." I would describe the sauce as gritty. Followed recipe to the letter. If there are any suggestions to improve the sauce please reply. Taste was good.

I just made this (half recipe), and I signed up/created a user name just to write a review. I have tried (and failed) to make mac-n-cheese three times. I followed the recipe's directions and proportions (for half) exactly, but didn't have all the extra sharp cheddar required, so substituted some creamy gouda and a few bites of brie in the sauce. In the topping, I substituted a little of a cheddar with some bleu mixed in. I had about half of the sharp cheddar required for each. Could not taste the bleu in the finished product. It was outstanding. My 19 year old daughter groaned when I said I was trying to make mac-n-cheese. Her comment after trying: "You've just reached your life achievement." I did let it sit for 15 minutes after it was out of the oven - it was pretty liquid-y right when I took it out. I can't WAIT to take this to a party. I would say half a recipe would serve 8 people as a side dish. I made it in an 8 x 11.5 x 2 inch Pyrex and it was great mac/topping proportion. I don't eat a whole lot of gluten/dairy, and I am already growing a food baby, but it is so worth it!!

Best Mac and cheese recipe you will find. Had to make a large tray for 15 people for a Christmas Eve side dish. I always read the reviews and gather tips from people who have made the recipe before. They didn't steer me wrong and with their help this was just a wonderful dish that everyone loved. As reviewers recommended, I used orrichette pasta, and only boiled for 5 minutes. I used half sharp white cheddar and half fontina cheese. I made sure the cheddar was not the dry, crumbly type but a softer version that yielded slightly when squeezed. Some reviewers said the drier ,more expensive type didn't melt as well and caused their cheese sauce to separate and be greasy. I added a 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne to the cheese sauce which I made with equal parts whole milk and half and half for added richness. The milk was warmed before adding to the flour/ butter mixture to make a smooth sauce without grittiness or lumps. This will be my go to Mac and cheese recipe from now on.

I've made this recipe a few times now, it quickly became a Thanksgiving staple and favourite. I didn't bother with making it in individual dishes and cooked the whole batch in one dish and it tastes just as good. To help make it taste a bit more seasonal I added chopped fresh rosemary to the breadcrumb topping. I also love serving this with warm homemade applesauce. I know it sounds weird but it's delicious!

I LOVE to cook and bake, but had never made mac and cheese from scratch. *gasp* I finally decided it was time and then spent forever reading recipes online to find one that looked good. I wanted a rich and creamy sauce that let the cheese flavor really come through....and that was a LOT harder to find than I thought!
I tried this recipe last night and followed the instructions exactly except I totally forgot to reserve any pasta water. In the end, the recipe was absolutely delicious, so next time I probably won't add it. I baked it in my 9x13 stoneware. The sauce was thick and rich and creamy. I used fusilli pasta, hoping that all those ridges would really hold the sauce and they sure did! The topping was plentiful and formed a wonderful crispy layer on top of the gooey noodles and cheese. My family LOVED this one and I'll definitely be making it again!
My one discrepancy with the writeup is that whoever wrote that this recipe provides TWENTY servings, must be having really teeny serving sizes. My family of four ate 2/3 of this last night even with steak and broccoli!

I added this to last year's Thanksgiving menu on a whim, and it ended up being the surprise hit of the dinner. The other dishes were stellar, too, so that's saying a lot. I followed the recipe exactly, and the results are that I now have to make it every year for Thanksgiving.

Incredible recipe. Followed it to a T. (used regular breadcrumbs). Agree with others the added water scared me but it is perfect in the end. It does not make 20 full servings but makes a lot. More like 10 full adult servings for hungry folks. All the adults here loved the crunch in the crumbs, but the kiddos prefer it without. Next time I will do 2 casserole dishes one with topping and one without. I made this with Barilla gluten free pasta and wow it was amazing. Nobody knew it was gluten free! So much flavor!!

I made this exactly as written except baked the macaroni in two rectangular baking tins, and it got rave reviews. Even though it looks watery when all of the ingredients are mixed together, once it's baked, the consistency was great.

This is a great base recipe that I use all of the time. I like to throw a couple bay leaves into the milk as it is warming up, along with whatever seasonings I'm using. This time, I added some freshly grated nutmeg, a tiny pinch of cardamon, white pepper, a touch of white truffle oil, and salt. I left out the parmesan cheese because I was lazy this time, hence my addition of the extra salt. I also mixed in some crumbled, crispy bacon before popping into the oven. Sometimes I use cream in place of some of the milk. When using only milk, I like to simmer the milk a little longer to let the roux (flour and butter) thicken the mixture. It should be thick enough that there is a coating of the milk mixture left on the spoon when you take it out of the pot. Also, I was out of white flour so I used sprouted spelt flour to make the roux, which made me nervous. It was hard to tell when the flour was sufficiently toasted because the flour is dark. I toasted the flour in the butter for around 5 minutes instead of three, and kept smelling it to make sure the raw flour smell had been cooked out. The bacon helped deter the eye from the little specks of whole grain flour. The result turned out just very good.

I've made this recipe a whole bunch of times. The first few I followed it to the letter, and of course it was fantastic. Recently though, I've gotten a bit more creative with it. I've done it with smoked gouda and cheddar, with scallions and bacon, added carmelized onion, etc. Tonight's was especially fantastic: I sauteed some crimini mushrooms, along with some dried porcini's, which I soaked while preparing the sauce. Then (and here's the critical part) Instead of using the reserved pasta water, I used the porcini broth. I used gruyere and cheddar cheese, and added a little bit of paprika and thyme (dried). I'm eating it right now and it is fantastic... definitely a classed up version of my favorite comfort food. Don't be afraid to get crazy with this one!

I'm one of those cooks that follow a recipe to the letter so needless to say I didn't change/substitute a thing and it was delicious! My 25 year old son said "this mac and cheese is bomb" I think this will be our staple mac n cheese recipe from here on out